Career choices and agropreneurship

The study attempted to dig out the reasons for and against choosing a career in agriculture through a sample survey in the Kannur district of Kerala. Agropreneurs, the respondents of the study; were operationally defined as those who engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and both; in order to make profits through the sale of products in the market. Secondary as well as primary data provided the basic inputs for the study. Ninety agropreneurs were selected through Multi stage random sampling technique as respondents; who were interviewed and observed so as to generate data for the study. It is noteworthy that inheritance of agricultural property, agrarian family background and passion for agriculture brought the respondents into an agropreneurial career rather than governmental supports or their own entrepreneurial drive. This calls for a change in the nature of existing governmental supports as well as a need for entrepreneurial development programmes in this sector. Low social status, misconception about education and agropreneurship, lack of awareness about the field etc almost scored equally for being bottlenecks in the choice of an agropreneurial career. Awareness campaigns for the society as a whole to understand the importance of this sector, inclusion of agropreneurship in school syllabus, a single window platform for aspiring youngsters to gather information on agropreneurship, agropreneurial trainings etc are suggested to bring in fresh blood and new ideas into this sphere of activity.